Why did a car designer to the stars get shot at his home? A Miami trial may provide answers
On an August evening, Alex Vega wound up nearly dead with three bullet wounds after a hit man ambushed him as he pulled into his Kendale Lakes driveway in his black Range Rover.
Vega, who had made a name for himself customizing luxury cars for sports and music celebrities, told police investigators that he believed his former business-partner-turned-rival Rolando “Roly” Ramirez was behind the 2019 attack.
At the start of Ramirez’s murder-for-hire conspiracy trial in Miami federal court, a prosecutor told jurors on Wednesday that there had been a raging feud between the two men for more than a decade after a falling out over money and customers that led to a lawsuit and settlement.
But the truce didn’t last.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Abbie Waxman said Ramirez repeatedly threatened Vega with the words “in due time,” implying that one day he would take his revenge. In her opening statement, she told jurors that Ramirez plotted with a close Miami friend and a New York marijuana dealer to kill Vega and that the payoff for the hit would involve erasing a drug debt.
Ramirez’s defense attorney countered that the prosecution’s case was a “mistake.”
“Roly Ramirez got arrested for something he did not do,” lawyer Eric Schwartzreich told the 12-member jury. “He had no motive to do this.”
He argued that that Vega initially told police that as many as nine people — not just Ramirez — had issues with him and might have been involved in the attempt on his life. “The government twisted this case,” he said.
Ramirez, the owner of Exclusive Motoring Worldwide in Doral, is facing trial with his close friend, Rasheed “Fresh” Ali, 38, a former University of Miami football player from Pinecrest.
Both are charged with conspiracy, murder for hire, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, interstate stalking, firearm offenses and witness tampering. If convicted, each faces up to life in prison.
The third defendant is Ali’s friend, Tamrat “Shifta” Mason, a California music producer and recording artist. He is only charged with witness tampering.
Before trial, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman dismissed an obstruction of justice charge against all three for lack of evidence.
At the start of trial on Wednesday, Ali’s defense lawyer, Richard Merlino, chose not to give an opening statement.
Mason’s defense attorney, Dustin Tischler, questioned why Mason was even charged in the case, saying he had voluntarily talked for hours with the FBI during the course of the investigation.
“Why would he tamper with something he had nothing to do with?” Tischler told jurors. “It’s completely innocent behavior.”
The indictment accuses Ramirez and Ali of recruiting two men to carry out the hit on Vega: Jaime Serrano, the New York marijuana dealer, and Julian Jimenez, the son of a sound engineer who worked for pop star Marc Anthony, who was one of Vega’s customers.
Serrano and Jimenez flew from New York to Miami on an American Airlines flight on Aug. 21, 2019, rented a blue Nissan Rogue and stalked Vega, according to court records.
Six days later, in the early evening of Aug. 27, Serrano drove Jimenez in the Nissan to Vega’s Kendale Lakes home.
Eight shots fired in Kendale Lakes driveway
Jimenez, wearing a surgical mask and gloves and carrying a gun that Serrano gave to him after they had arrived in Miami, got out of the front passenger seat, approached Vega in his car in the driveway and started shooting, according to a statement filed with Jimenez’s plea deal. He fired eight shots, including three that struck Vega.
A witness told FBI agents the men were offered $60,000 to carry out the hit, though that has never been confirmed, Jimenez’s attorney, federal public defender Abigail Becker, said at his sentencing.
Jimenez pleaded guilty to his part in the murder attempt and was sentenced by Judge Altman to 35 years in prison. He’s the son of Marcos Jimenez — Anthony’s sound engineer and occasional property manager, according to court documents
Serrano, who was convicted at trial of arranging the shooting and the trip from New York to South Florida to carry it out, was sentenced by Altman to 50 years in prison.
A jury determined Serrano was not the shooter, but played an important part in planning the operation — including buying the airline tickets from New York to Miami, renting cars in Florida, and obtaining the .40 caliber handgun that Jimenez used to shoot Vega. Serrano was also the getaway driver.
Both Serrano and Jimenez, seeking to shave time off their long prison terms, are expected to testify for the prosecution at the trial of Ramirez, Ali and Mason.
On Wednesday, Waxman, the prosecutor, said Serrano did marijuana deals with Ali and Mason and that he owed them more than $20,000 from profits and a pot stash that had been stolen from Serrano’s residence in New York. Waxman told jurors that it was Ramirez’s idea to have Serrano pay off that debt to his friend Ali by carrying out the hit on Vega.
Ramirez’s plan was to “have Alex Vega killed in exchange for erasing Serrano’s drug debt,” said Waxman, who is handling the case with fellow prosecutor Michael Gilfarb.
Waxman also told jurors that while Ramirez and Ali have been held without bond at a federal lock-up in Miami, they plotted to kill Serrano because he was going to testify against them. She also said Mason paid “hush money” to Serrano while he was in custody so he wouldn’t testify against Ramirez and Ali — hence, the witness-tampering charge.
But on Wednesday, Ramirez’s lawyer attacked the credibility of Serrano. “Serrano is their star witness, but you’re not going to be able to believe one word he says,” Schwartzreich told jurors.
Clients included Marc Anthony, Usain Bolt
Vega, the owner of The Auto Firm, is also scheduled to testify. His Kendall business has designed sports-car renovations for many celebrities, including Grammy-winning singer Anthony, rapper Rick Ross and Jamaican Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt, to name a few. Vega was also featured in a 2017 reality TV series called “The Auto Firm with Alex Vega.”
FBI special agent Ryan Dreibelbis is also expected to testify. Last year at a detention hearing, he said that although there may be several suspects in the Vega shooting, Ramirez’s friend, Ali, was the only one who had a relationship with the getaway driver, Serrano.
The agent said a witness told the FBI that “Mr. Ramirez hated the victim and called the victim nasty names,” and that after the shooting, Ramirez “talked about Vega’s clients being up for grabs.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 8:42 AM.
